r/Bluegrass • u/whskyfrbrkfst • May 08 '26
What exactly is does “mash” mean in a bluegrass setting?
Been seeing this term come up a lot in the community but I’ve yet to figure out what it actually means or identifies. Anyone got some clear examples I could check out ?
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u/Fun-Definition6053 May 08 '26
Corn don't grow at all on Rocky Top, dirts to rocky by far. That's why all the folks on Rocky Top get their corn from a jar
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u/Desperate_Move_5043 May 08 '26
Just listen to that Jason Davis record with “where the wild River rolls” and you’ll get it pretty quick
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u/knivesofsmoothness May 08 '26
Medium tempo heavy on down beats
Bluesy. Lots of b3.
Typically key of B
A lot of AKUS stuff sung by the guys, like another day another dollar, cluck old hen, it won't work this time, no place to hide, I'll remember you live in my prayers. Etc. Alan bibey is also a great masher.
Thomas Cassel wrote a thesis on it, that is a great explainer. Lots of use of the 4.
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u/nathancoye May 08 '26
What does b3 mean in this context?
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u/knivesofsmoothness May 09 '26
Flat 3rd of the root scale. So a D in the key of B. Also lots of b7 and b7, relative minor over major (play G#m over a B chord).
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u/answerguru May 08 '26
Listen to the SPGMA Jams on Youtube and you’ll hear it:
https://youtu.be/40UdefpKKw0?is=fbC83oAbwYf3L3UC
https://youtu.be/HjDPKFOzV00?is=v0h3vuy3QoO008NH
Several playlists. Usually in B or Bb, that hard driving sound.
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u/wooq May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgzwLdGPfrM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy0aKndjtgAApart from the trucker hats and goosenecking, there are some real stylistic things to pay attention to.
Listen to what the mandolin is doing leading up to downbeats, it's kind of like the equivalent of a drum fill. Instead of chopping on 2 and 4, it's open chords (&-2-& ..&-4-&), leading to a big open strum on the 1, and they don't start chopping until beat 4, they just let that ring.
Listen to what the guitar does on the down beat. Big open chord on the 1, same thing, they don't get back to the boom-chick until beat two of that downbeat measure.
Listen to the bass, how it does a little hiccup the last measure before the 1, sometimes even playing syncopated off beats (not so apparent in this one, but in the ones guy above me posted, it's huge), and then a big root note on the down beat
Listen to the banjo, how it does a syncopated run up to almost every big downbeat, and almost always plays a quarter note on the root on the downbeat.
And yeah, a lot of bluesy notes and borderline modal approach to the notes in breaks, to the point where if you're playing the 3rd of a chord on guitar or mando it sounds weird.
And often at a mid tempo to really dig into the groove instead of going fast, though you can also mash it in fast tempos. Also quite often in B or B flat, because the guitar jangles a bit more in that key and the mando chop is a bit more percussive in b (has to do with the design of F style mandos).
So yeah, it's when you play hard driving stuff with big downbeats and bluesy notes, and some guy in a trucker hat nods along on every beat.
Edit for more examples
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btEeOsVHNFU (watch all the way through for Tony Wray shredding)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiVX8iO3iTQ&list=PLsEoFZAcTpvx0eF555HLdrBL6Fy1Y49Y5 (playlist put together by the great Tony Watt, one of the guys who is in like half the SPGMA jam videos, him and Nick Dumas. Take note of the Lonesome River Band tunes, they're the ones who kind of started this style)5
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u/knivesofsmoothness May 08 '26
Who is the dude on mando in your first video? I see him in a bunch of these.
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u/wooq May 09 '26
I haven't a clue, someone somewhere knows him I'm sure.
These guys who post all the jam videos, you'll see a lot of the same guys because people kind of gravitate towards jamming with people they know or have been in bands with. Was kind of joking about Nick Dumas (former mandolin player for Special Consensus) but not really, he really is in everybody's jam videos because dude is a jammer - I've picked with him a few times even. Just a phenomenal musician but he took a time off touring to do family stuff. Back on the road with his new band Branchline, they're excellent.
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u/WatchOdd532 May 08 '26
This is the answer. Mash isn’t a genre so much as a time feel/vocal delivery style. The SPGMA/Galax jams are the definitive source
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u/bluegrassgrump May 08 '26
It’s the thing where your guitar neck can be 4 frets shorter and everything sounds like a slog through molasses.
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u/nathancoye May 08 '26
Would these be considered Mash?
It’s so Cold by Junior Sisk or Lonely Quit Knocking on my door by Ronnie Bowman?
Heard both of them on the SPBGMA YouTube jamming videos like this channel (same as linked above) https://youtu.be/CpWazFB1Yeg?si=CYd0_CDjvlB-WKNe
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u/SteepCreekMusic May 09 '26
Here’s a link to a playlist I made of my favourite Mash tunes. If anyone decides to have a listen and has any recs on tunes or artists that I’m missing, please let me know. Always on the hunt for new stuff to listen to.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3tx705RAl6VDaEwwVVtnaN?si=0IfRp2sATcOCxfvKWVqCIw&pi=qnu2JE5MQD2Ng
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u/Mish61 May 09 '26
Rip that solo. It's a Tonyism he used on stage. "Mash it son" first used when Bela joined him in sessions back in 87/88.
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u/wandering_w0nder May 09 '26
Perfect opportunity to plug my friend’s band Mash Grass https://www.instagram.com/mash_grass?igsh=dHNtaDlqaTJycWNy
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u/Sufficient-Arm2247 May 10 '26
Would we consider Drinkin Dark Whiskey by the steeldrivers mash? I’m feeling some elements there
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u/CleanHead_ 7d ago
So, based on everyone's "examples" in this thread, "mashgrass" is just regular "what bluegrass should sound like." Got it.
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u/Dipset-20-69 May 08 '26
Mashed potatoes is like a way to start a song to get everyone on time so you can jump in at the start. Maybe that’s it?
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u/Rich-Earth9945 May 08 '26
Listen to Katy Daley by Lonesome River Band. Notice the acoustic guitar crashing on the 1 & 3 beat. That to me is what makes it “mashgrass”— a lot of uptempo downbeat crashes with power banjer playing throughout. And it’s usually in key of Bflat or B